Update: on 4 September, we had an online meeting with the members from the steering committee and initiators regarding this call. Three subprojects were selected. The information below is still relevant, but a number of dates have already passed.
At this time, a call for 'small projects for NWA routes 2020' is open. With this call, the Netherlands Organisation for Scientific Research (NWO) wants to offer the NWA routes the opportunity to be involved in concrete terms with applications within their own field and to increase the chance of applications that are relevant to their own field, namely by financing small projects for the NWA routes. Submission for this call are possible via three small applications of €50,000, or a combination thereof.
The projects can focus on an innovative idea within the specific field of the arts or on utilisation of existing knowledge in the field of the arts. The small projects must, in this way, contribute to subjects relevant to the route and increase the scientific and/or social impact of the route. We kindly ask initiators of small applications to inform the route coordinator stella.blom@routekunstnwa.nl of their plans no later than 17 August.
As communicated previously, we have a meeting with the members from the Art route steering committee and initiators regarding this call on 4 September. Due to the developments regarding the coronavirus, a decision has been taken to hold this meeting entirely online, vie Microsoft Teams. The time has also been changed: from 13:00 to 15:00, initiators will give a presentation further to their research plan.
To ensure the most transparent process possible, we will share the applications with all participants prior to the session. On 4 September, everyone will vote on each other’s proposal in accordance with criteria that can be found below. The research proposal ties in logically with the nature of the route; the role of the artist and the artistic practice is of paramount importance. You may not vote on your own proposal and the figurehead and coordinator will not vote themselves. In this way, the route community will choose the project that is going to be submitted. Submission of the application to the steering committee and participation in the online session are conditions for participation in the application.
Please register for the session by sending an email to stella.blom@routekunstnwa.nl.
ASSESSMENT CRITERIA
I. Connections
a. Degree to which the subprojects contribute to new and unexpected connections
b. Degree to which a transparent process has been followed in order to arrive at a selection of the proposed subprojects with broad backing and support has been created
II. Relevance
a. Degree to which the subprojects give substance to subjects relevant to the route
b. Degree to which the subprojects increase scientific and/or social impact of the route
III. Project structure
a. The proposed subproject has a structure/form as a result of which the proposed idea can be executed
b. The proposed project budget is realistic and supports the structure of the project
c. The subprojects are interrelated.
The call is already open and the deadline for this call is 29 October 2020, at 14:00. You can find more information about the call on the NWO website via this link.
IMPORTANT CONDITION FOR ADMISSIBILITY
The call concerned states that an important condition for admissibility of the application to be submitted is consulting and involving a sufficiently broad community connected to the Art route. In our opinion, the members of the steering committee have an important role to play in order to guarantee this. The steering committee has been expanded one year ago with representatives from various research associations/knowledge institutions/disciplines/fields. We can also well imagine that the big NWA ORC application previously submitted provide a basis for smaller subprojects. That application was prepared with input from various parties. Together with the procedure that we followed with each other as research steering committee in the past year, insight has been gained into what the field needs and when application tie in with what's going on in the field. At the same time, the call is open to new ideas and collaborations, and the projects can broaden the reach of a (potential) community.
SUITABILITY OF THE APPLICATION
Figurehead Janneke Wesseling and coordinator Stella Blom from Art route consider 'suitability' to be an important criterion. Moreover, the uniqueness of the arts research and the extent to which it ties in with a specific discourse in the arts field are an important criterion. They pay attention to the role of the arts and artists in terms of the theme, the problem definition and the execution/relevant cooperation partners. Wesseling and Blom think that the route is helped most with applications that fulfil these criteria, because it offers a unique opportunity to advance the specific discourse of arts research and the contribution of artistic practices in research.